Funerals

Christians have always believed that there is hope in death as in life and that every life, including our own, is precious to God. Even those who share such faith find there is a real sense of loss at the death of a loved one. The Church is always ready to offer support and care to those who have been bereaved.

To organise a funeral you will need to get in touch with a funeral director. If you are hoping to have the service in Church, or that a particular minister will conduct the service, please mention this to the funeral director at the earliest opportunity. Whilst every effort will be made to accommodate your wishes you may have to consider an alternative time or day for the service if the Church or minister happen to be unavailable. This can easily be done but may mean that finalising the date or time may take a little longer. Many services are conducted only at the crematorium or in the chapel at the cemetery; one of our ministers will happily conduct that service for you.

Nowadays, when arranging a service, you may be asked by the funeral director if you have connections with a church and if you say 'no' you may be offered the services of a registrar to conduct the funeral service, but you can always ask for a minister even if you have no connection with a church - the ministers in this parish are willing to conduct services for anyone who asks - not just for church members. Once the funeral director has made the arrangements, the minister will contact you and arrange to visit to discuss your wishes for the service and how you wish your loved one to be remembered, this includes choice of hymns, music and readings.

If the funeral service takes place in Church, you will need to choose whether this will be followed by cremation (usually at West Hertfordshire Crematorium in Garston), or by burial (usually at North Watford Cemetery). Unfortunately the Churchyard at St Lawrence is no longer available for burials, but ashes can be interred here in the Garden of Remembrance following cremation.

Please do ask the minister any questions you may have - he/she is always happy to help you.

A few weeks after the funeral has taken place, if you arranged it through one of the Abbots Langley churches, you will be contacted by a bereavement visitor who will offer to come and have a chat with you and see how you are coping. Some people find this a great help and the visitor carries on seeing them for a few visits; others are coping well, or have family and friends around them to help them cope. It is up to you how you respond to the visitor.

Garden of Remembrance

There is a Garden of Remembrance in the churchyard at the East End of St Lawrence specifically for the burial of ashes following a cremation. If your loved one lived in the parish or was associated with the parish it is normally possible for their ashes to be buried in this area but we must tell you that the plot is not marked - the ashes are buried in a hole in the next available space (either emptied directly into the ground from the plastic crematorium container or buried in a wooden or biodegradable box) which is then filled in and turfed over. Flowers and plants can be left on a paved area to the side of the Garden. The Garden has recently been extened so that more spaces are available.

If you would like to arrange for ashes to be buried in the Garden of Remembrance please contact us.

Book of Remembrance

We have a Book of Remembrance in St Lawrence where the names of those buried in the Garden of Remembrance can be added. You may also include a few lines of words - the cost of the entry is worked out by line. If you would like to find out more, or to submit your entry, please contact the Church Office by e-mail or by phone - see Contact Page - or pop in during Office hours.

I am convinced that neither death nor life ..... will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8.38,39)